Mistfall Hunter crosses the one million player mark in its first week, after Bellring Games' debut already stormed its open beta back in June.

What started as a scrappy Next Fest experiment from an unknown studio now sits somewhere between record-breaking numbers and a stubbornly mixed Steam rating.


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From Next Fest sleeper hit to full release

Bellring Games is a young studio, and Mistfall Hunter marks its first shipped project. Publisher Skystone Games was founded by Diablo creator David Brevik and Bill Wang, and its portfolio also includes Tiny Bookshop, Crystal of Atlan, HELLCARD, and ACECRAFT.

Foundational work reportedly started back in late 2025, followed by a significant combat system overhaul in Q2 2026. Before launch, the game went through several test phases: a first closed beta, a second beta running on Korea and US East servers with no NDA attached, and finally the open beta during Steam Next Fest, running from June 14 through June 22, 2026.

That open beta turned out to be the real turning point for public perception. Nearly 430,000 players jumped in over that one week, peaking at roughly 14,000 concurrent players on Steam, enough to land the game on both Steam's Top Demos and Top Trending Upcoming lists. The same build also introduced the sixth playable class, the Withered Knight, joining Mercenary, Sorcerer, Blackarrow, Shadowstrix, and Seer.

Bellring Games pulled direct lessons from that beta feedback into the launch build. The Seer's Mace Shapeshift got the single heaviest class nerf of the bunch, after it had dominated solo play during testing.

Launch itself landed on July 29, 2026, at 6 PM PT, with a simultaneous global unlock at 01:00 UTC on July 30. Mistfall Hunter arrived on PC via Steam and the Microsoft Store, on PlayStation 5, and on Xbox Series X|S, day one on Xbox Game Pass. There was deliberately no pre-download this time, anyone wanting in at launch had to download live. The Standard Edition runs $24.99, the Deluxe Edition $39.99, both currently carrying a 10% launch discount through August 12, 2026. In-game purchases, mainly through the Fate Coins currency, are cosmetic only according to the studio.



The player numbers: 100K in 24 hours, one million in a week

What followed was a rapid chain of milestones:



  • Launch day (July 29/30): over 100,000 players across all platforms within less than 24 hours, Steam peaked at 23,895 concurrent players
  • July 31: Steam CCU climbs to 30,220 per Steam's own statistics
  • August 1: SteamDB logs 38,878 concurrent players, and Bellring Games officially confirms over 500,000 players across all platforms
  • August 2/3 (weekend): new Steam record of 44,472 concurrent players, still the all-time peak so far
  • August 5: Bellring Games announces over 1,000,000 players worldwide, alongside a new wave of login rewards, the official Season 1 roadmap, and the confirmed Solo Mode for Brandrgarde


Worth flagging: the million-player mark counts across every platform, including consoles and, notably, Xbox Game Pass. Bellring Games hasn't broken out exactly how much of that comes from Game Pass.





How many people are still playing right now?

Steam alone gives the most reliable live numbers, even though it only shows part of the overall player base. As of August 6, concurrent Steam players sit somewhere between roughly 19,000 and 27,500 depending on the tracker, with the all-time peak still holding at that roughly 44,000 to 44,500 figure. Community estimates put lifetime Steam sales around 481,000 copies, for an estimated $7.2 million in gross revenue on that storefront alone, unofficial numbers that come with real uncertainty attached.

The gap to the official million-player milestone isn't hard to explain. A meaningful chunk of the player base almost certainly came in through Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation 5, or Xbox Series X|S, without ever touching a Steam purchase.



Twitch viewership: number one, then the drop-off

The launch made noise well beyond raw player counts too. Mistfall Hunter climbed to the number one most-watched game on Twitch at release, peaking at around 94,000 concurrent viewers on July 30 around 20:20 UTC. Other tracking services put the launch peak above 92,000 viewers, roughly the same ballpark.

Since then, the curve has flattened considerably, which tracks with most extraction and live-service launches. A few days after release, viewership had already settled into the low five-figure to four-figure range. To keep momentum going, a Twitch Drops campaign has been running since August 5 through August 12, requiring players to link their Twitch and Mistfall Hunter accounts.



Mixed reviews: what critics and players are saying

For all the attention on player numbers, one blemish remains. Mistfall Hunter launched to a "Mixed" rating on Steam, and that score has drifted slightly down rather than up since then. It currently sits around 65 to 67 percent positive, out of more than 7,500 reviews total, close to 3,900 of those in English alone.

The split by language stands out. English, Russian, and Simplified Chinese reviews all land on "Mixed," while German reviews come in noticeably higher at "Mostly Positive" (382 reviews), similar to Brazilian Portuguese (315 reviews, "Very Positive").

Metacritic data is still thin. The Metascore sits at 71 ("Mixed or Average"), but that's based on only four critic reviews so far, plenty of major outlets haven't weighed in yet. The user score hovers around 5.9 to 6.0 out of 10, also "Mixed or Average," across roughly 30 ratings.


A handful of complaints keep showing up across reviews:



  • Technical issues around launch, including stuttering, latency, and server problems
  • No Solo Mode for Brandrgarde at launch
  • Balance concerns, especially around the Seer
  • A content pool that still feels thin this soon after release


On the positive side, critics and the community consistently point to the Souls-like combat feel, the bleak Gyldenmist atmosphere, and the tension baked into the extraction loop. The six distinct classes are also landing well.



The roadmap for Season 1 and Season 2

Right alongside the million-player milestone, Bellring Games dropped the full Season 1 roadmap, split into three phases.



Season 1 – Phase I

  • Einherjar Mode: Mist Lord Challenge unlocked
  • Season Tasks become available as a mysterious guest arrives at Windrest
  • Season-exclusive Soul Harvest content: gather Soul Cocoons, challenge the Soulgnawer, and take on a new multiplayer showdown
  • New Soul Harvest Exchange Shop with exclusive collectibles, Soul Coins, and Moonlight Nectar

Season 1 – Phase II

  • Season Tasks fully unlocked as a new crisis surfaces around the mysterious guest
  • Rewards for finishing Season Tasks: the S1 Pip's Rare Pouch and the Nether Ferry skin
  • Brandrgarde gets its long-requested Solo Mode
  • Underlord Speed Challenge with bonus rewards from Fern the Woodling

Season 1 – Phase III

  • New monster type: the Golden Woodling, disguised as valuable loot
  • Random Ancestor Tree event: break the seal for gifts from ancient spirits, while watching out for rival Gyldhunters
  • A Season 2 teaser called "Fires of the Past," with new tasks handing out early clues and rewards

Season 2 (preview)

  • New Blackarrow weapon: the Javelin
  • A brand-new season theme with exclusive gameplay
  • A new, season-exclusive progression system
  • More content to be revealed "gradually," per the studio


Some of this is already dated: Soul Harvest is scheduled to go live on August 14, and the Einherjar Mode Mist Lord Challenge is landing during the week of August 3 through 9. Solo Mode for Brandrgarde is planned for the middle of Season 1 in September.



FAQ

Is Mistfall Hunter free to play?

No. The Standard Edition costs $24.99, the Deluxe Edition $39.99, currently at a 10% discount through August 12, 2026. In-game purchases are cosmetic only, according to the studio.


Is a Solo Mode coming for Brandrgarde?

Yes. Bellring Games has confirmed Solo Mode for both Normal and Cataclysm difficulty, arriving in the middle of Season 1 in September 2026, after it became the most requested community feature following launch.


How many people are currently playing Mistfall Hunter?

Over one million players have tried Mistfall Hunter across all platforms, according to Bellring Games. On Steam alone, concurrent players currently sit somewhere between roughly 19,000 and 27,500, with an all-time peak of around 44,000 concurrent players.

A million players in week one is a real achievement for a debut studio, especially given how brutal the extraction genre has been in 2026. Bungie's relaunch of Marathon landed far short of expectations, and even breakout hit ARC Raiders bled players hard after its own launch spike. Whether Mistfall Hunter holds onto that momentum past Season 1 will come down to its Steam rating more than its raw player count. Milestones get celebrated once. A mixed reputation sticks around a lot longer.